Chuck Pagano is heading back to Baltimore. The veteran coach is coming out of retirement to join the Ravens as their senior secondary coach, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
“It is exciting to add coach Chuck Pagano to our defensive staff and continue to develop and grow our young and talent secondary,” coach John Harbaugh said in a statement. “Chuck brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and coaching talent to our team. He has deep ties to the program and is excited to get to work.”
The 64-year-old was a member of Harbaugh‘s first staff in Baltimore, where Pagano served as the secondary coach for three seasons before earning a promotion to defensive coordinator in 2011. He parlayed that job into a head coaching gig with the Colts, where he went 53-43 across six seasons.
Pagano was canned by the Colts following the 2018 campaign, and after serving as a consultant for a season, he spent two years as the Bears defensive coordinator. He retired following the 2021 campaign, stating a desire to spend more time with his family. In the last few years, he could be seen making appearances on The Pat McAfee Show.
Pagano will also reunite with Dean Pees, who succeeded him as defensive coordinator for six seasons before the first of his three retirements. Pees came out of his third retirement last fall to join Zach Orr‘s staff as an advisor and will remain with the Ravens in 2025, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. However, he will be a consultant rather than continuing in the full-time role he held this past season.
Inside linebackers coach Mark DeLeone, who succeeded Orr after he was promoted to DC, will not be returning to Harbaugh’s staff in 2025, per KRPC2’s Aaron Wilson. After both Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen made the Pro Bowl in 2023, the unit took a step back in 2024 with early struggles from Smith and inconsistent contributions from 2023 third-rounder Trenton Simpson.
As of now, though, Harbaugh is poised to retain much more of his staff than last offseason, which saw several coaches earn promotions with other teams. Among them was Dennard Wilson, the Ravens’ defensive backs coach in 2022 and 2023. He took a defensive coordinator job with the Titans, who, despite their struggles virtually everywhere else, finished second in passing yards allowed in 2024.
The Ravens, meanwhile, allowed the second-most passing yards last year, something Pagano will be looking to remedy in his new role. He has a long history of coaching talented players in the secondary, starting with Ed Reed in Baltimore. Pagano’s defenses in Indianapolis struggled at times, but he coached Vontae Davis and Mike Adams to Pro Bowls in 2014 and 2015. He was more successful in Chicago, especially in 2019 with a top-five pass defense led by Pro Bowlers Kyle Fuller and recent ex-Raven Eddie Jackson.
No Ravens from Pagano’s first stint in Baltimore remain on the roster, but he will reunite with Smith and Brent Urban, who he coached in Chicago.
Nikhil Mehta also contributed to this article.